Two contradicting reports on Jambo Pay in the city

Nairobi county government ticketing officer clamp down a vehicle that had not paid for parking outside Simmers restaurant as the car owner negotiates with other officers on Monday,December 28.Some city motorists had taken advantage of the Christmas festivities to evade paying parking fee but the clamping officers were keen to make sure all the motorists pay.PHOTO/COLLINS KWEYU

Two committees of the County Assembly of Nairobi have prepared contradictory
reports on Jambo Pay, the company that collects revenue on behalf of City Hall.

One committee that of Energy and Information, Communication and Technology
(ICT) in a report tabled on Wednesday has given the company a clean bill of
health.

Another committee, that of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in a report
tabled on 3rd May 2018, JamboPay system lacks the requisite capacity to collect
revenue on behalf of the County Government. It recommended that the
contract be terminated.

PAC noted that the company delays in submitting the collected revenue
to the Government. It found out that, Web Tribe, the company that runs Jambo
Pay, colludes with the Cooperative Bank of Kenya to delay remitting of the
collected monies to the County Revenue Fund account.

PAC had recommended that the county should within five months of adaptation
of the report develop its own internal and foolproof automated revenue
collection system and the Auditor General should conduct a forensic audit on
all the Jambo Pay transactions for reporting.

It also recommended that the County Government should terminate its contract
with Jambo pay following breach of clause 24 and 25 by the service provider.

However, the ICT has said it was not possible for the Webtribe to collude
with the Cooperative Bank since the bank has no authority over the company. The
committee noted that Webtribe also has no authority on county accounts.

The committee also dismissed that funds were not being delayed in good time
noting that this is done daily to CRF account and the Central Bank and an
automated SMS report sent every midnight.

"On terminating the Contract, there are legal implications and the
county has not alternative system currently and would greatly harm the ability
to collect revenue," the ICT report reads in part.

Consequently, Speaker Beatrice Elachi rejected the report by the ICT
committee and directed that it be withdrawn for further review.

In a ruling delivered on Thursday by Deputy Speaker John Kamangu, Elachi
said that it was out of order for the the ICT committee to overrule the
findings of another committee without first bringing a motion to that effect.
She said such a motion must first be cleared by the Speaker's office and
must adhere to Standing Order No 53 (1).

The Order provides that "that no motion may be moved which is the same
in substance as any questions which has been resolved either in the affirmative
or in the negative during the preceding six months in the same session."

The Speaker also noted that the ICT committee exceeded its mandate by
re-opening resolutions contained in the PAC report that had already been
adopted by the Assembly.

The ICT committee had picked on the JamboPay issue after PAC tabled its
report recommending that its contract be terminated.

Last month, JamboPay denied reports of inconsistencies in revenue collected in financial year 2017-18.

This was after the then acting Finance executive Charles Kerich told journalist that the county collected Sh8.2 billion out of a target of Sh17.2 billion which differed with what Jambo Pay had earlier told the ICT Committee of Sh 14 billion.

However, JamboPay clarified that the revenue by the county executive does not vary from the revenue collected through the EjijiPay system for financial year 2017-18 and that the Sh14 billion was not in reference to 2017-18 financial year but for a period spanning two financial years.

The firm was contracted in April 2014 to automate and improve revenue collection. It was meant to seal loopholes that were associated with the manual system. Its contract will be ending in April 2019.